KOLLAM: Acting on a tip off, sleuths from the Karunagapally Excise Range seized a huge consignment of spirit at Puthuval junction near Pathanapuram late on Tuesday night.

Range Inspector B. Suresh, who led the team, said 12,290 litres of spirit was seized. No one could be arrested since those involved in the incident managed to escape. A case under the Abkari Act has been registered against three persons.

Mr. Suresh said the seized spirit was estimated to be worth Rs.75 lakh in the hooch market. A lorry, used to transport the spirit, and a bike has been taken into custody.

The Excise team was tipped off about the arrival of the spirit-laden truck. The consignment was reportedly from Tamil Nadu. The Excise team comprised five men. They waited in an Ambassador car for the lorry. They then noticed a man riding a bike bearing registration number as tipped off by the informers.

The man on the bike was identified as Radhakrishnan Achary. On noticing that he was being followed, Achary suddenly abandoned the bike and managed to escape.

But the driver of the lorry, which followed after a while, was not aware of what had happened and did not notice that he was being tailed.

As arranged in advance, the lorry drove straight into a garage at Puthuval junction. There were about twenty-five persons inside the garage at that time.

Mr. Suresh said when the Excise team barged in; all those present in the garage took to their heels without putting forth any resistance. The cans carrying the spirit were found packed neatly under a consignment of plywood.

There were 342 cans of 35-litre capacity each. Another 420 litres of spirit stored in the garage was also seized. According to information received by the Excise team, eight such consignments had arrived in the garage earlier this year.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail